ve given much to see Barby's expression, but time was running
out and he and Scotty had ground to cover. They dropped from the tree,
scrambled up the hill past where the white mist was fading, and dashed
across the cornfield.

"Hurry!" Scotty exclaimed.

"I'm hurrying," Rick assured him, but made his legs go faster.

They went across the hilltop with great strides, broke into the open
beyond the cornfield, dodged thorns, and panted to a stop just above the
opening of the second tunnel.

The fast sprint had gotten them there in time.

The Frostola man spurted from the tunnel as though a real ghost was
after him.

Four state troopers grabbed him so fast that his legs continued to make
running motions even after his feet were lifted off the ground.

Rick caught a glimpse of blue light from the corner of his eye and
whirled to see the Blue Ghost approaching! For a moment he thought a
real ghost had somehow appeared to be in on the capture of the phony
one, then at close range he saw that the ghostly head was nothing more
than a transparent plastic head of the kind used to display men's hats.

The apparition walked up to the speechless Frostola man and said calmly,
"Boo!"

Taylor, the FBI agent, removed the apparatus from his head; Rick
recognized him in the blue glow. "We found your other head underneath
the ice cream in your scooter," he said conversationally. "In the false
bottom. We also found your Geiger counter. Any comments?"

The Frostola man had recovered somewhat from the shock of his capture.

"What can I say?" he demanded. "When I saw that wordage on the mist, I
knew someone was onto the act. I only delayed long enough to read
it--backward--from where I was. Then I got out and ran into troopers.
All right. You found the secret of the ghost, and that I have a Geiger
counter. So what? Practical jokes aren't illegal, and anyone can own a
survey meter."

"But selling shares in a nonexistent mine with intent to defraud is
quite a different matter," the agent said. "We've been collecting
evidence for a few days, including some from clients of yours who were
interested in knowing the field had been salted. And we've picked up
Collins and Hilleboe."

The Frostola man sighed. "Well, it was good while it lasted. I suspected
things were getting risky when those two kids charged into the mist, but
I hoped maybe the cold spray had cooled them down a little. When it
didn't, I tried to scare them off by trapping